Saturday, October 15, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
The Network Journal Article
What Does The Future Hold For Apple?
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
The recent death of Steve Jobs, the tycoon behind Apple computers, has people wondering what the future of the company will look like.In 1976 Steve Jobs and his friend Steve Wozniak, established Apple computers in Jobs’s parents’ garage. On the Apple website today, there is a large picture of Jobs and the years of his birth and death; 1955 to 2011.
Today, Tim Cook is the CEO of Apple and on Oct. 4 the company released its latest addition to Apple’s catalog: the iPhone 4S. Critics who were expecting the iPhone 5 to be released instead gave the product mixed reviews.
While Apple is known to be secretive about their product development and release dates, it is true that they also do not tell many of their own employees about the newest gadgets until they are about to be debuted.
Noah, a consultant for Apple said, “We did not know that the iPhone 4S was coming out until the 4th. We are not privy to any information that isn't released to the public."
Although this may add to the allure and mystique of Apple, it also keeps its consumers from finding out what the company has to offer.
Apple customers appear to be divided in how they think Apple will maintain its hold on the electronic industry.
Keath Brown, Apple computer user and iPhone owner said, "I think they [Apple] built it up enough. There's not going to be another Jobs but I think that he was creative and he thought outside the box. I think they have people in place that will bring something to the table,” said Brown who has been using Apple products since the 1990’s.
When asked what he thought Apple’s best contribution to our world has been Brown replied, “So far it has to be that they've helped to revolutionize music with the iPod. It really changed the music industry. Think about music before the iPod and after the iPod... you could have 600 cds in your pocket."
An Oct. 6th article in USA Today written by Scott Martin and Jon Swartz, entitled “Apple’s Future Looks Secure,” talks about Jobs’s overwhelming influence on the company and how there are still bright prospects for Apple.
“Many say that Steve Jobs' influence is deeply embedded into Apple's DNA. Experts point out that there are many capable executives able to carry the torch for Apple…” wrote Martin and Swartz.
Much like its product development, Apple’s future remains a mystery. Some say that Jobs left behind an empire that was built solidly enough to withstand the tests of time. Others say that Apple may suffer some tribulations with him gone because he had such a major impact on the company. Only time will tell, but for now, Mac aficionados await the latest release from Apple, the iPhone 4S which is rumored to hit the market on Oct. 14 of this year.
My First Obituary
Beloved Custodian Passes On
By Deandra Mouzon
Editor In Chief
On Saturday Oct.1 Nadya, “Shorty” Colon, a custodian and well known member of the York College community, passed away at the Rehabilitation Hospice in Jamaica Hills after a long battle with cancer.
Colon had worked at York College for over two decades and in many ways was like a family member to many of the college’s administration and staff. A host of students also grew to know and love the woman known affectionately as “Shorty.”
“I think I was the one who gave her the name you know,” said Professor Stephen Tyson who had been friends with Colon for nearly twenty years.
She is remembered as being a very feisty person with a huge spirit and generous heart. Tyson, among others, recalled how Colon was always willing to help someone. One time she began a collection for a colleague Julissa Contrasas because of a fire that had occurred in her home.
“One of her colleagues here’s house burnt down and she came to me and said we need to take up a collection for that person and she initiated everything… and gave her the money,” remembered Tyson.
Professor Mark Blickley, like others at the college, said that he’d met Colon in a hallway years ago where they exchanged some playful banter.
“I’d always get on her. I’d always bust her chops.”
Blickley also divulged that when Colon was not working, which was rare because she had maintained at least two jobs (the other in a doctor’s office), she took the time to understand real estate. More importantly perhaps was the driving force behind this interest.
“She was a pseudo real estate tycoon. She was very smart,” said Blickley. “She had an obsession with Maine. She was looking for properties by a lake. I said ‘but Shorty you don’t even like the water’…it turns out that what her dream was was to open up this home for kids with cancer and disabilities.”
In support of this dream, Blickley recalls running around all over New York city one Christmas season looking for a book on real estate in Maine. Happy to find one Barnes and Nobel he said giving it to Colon was “the highlight of his Christmas.”
Another good friend of Colon’s who saw her right before her passing, College Office Assistant CadyAnn Parris David, spoke about the spunky personality and warm heart that Colon always possessed.
“She [was] a die hard, DIE HARD Mets fan. My son is a Yankee’s fan. So they always had a little light banter back and forth.”
Aside from their personal friendship Parris-David also recalled how Colon was always willing to help while she was working; often taking the time to do extra work that was not asked or required of her.
“She would come in here and do things above and beyond her job.” “She had a big heart for her little size,” said Parris-David remembering the woman’s stature.
Being one of the last few people to see Colon alive Parris-David said that although she was sick her personality did not change at all. She was still up talking about her plans for the future and making jokes as she normally would be.
“She still went out with a bang, that fighting spirit in her,” said Parris-David nostalgically.
“The campus has already changed without her.”
Colon was such an integral part of the community that colleagues at the college had donated some sick days to help her while she was in the hospice.
Shortly after her passing Nadya “Shorty” Colon was cremated as per her request. She was 58 years old when she died. Actions toward having a memorial here at the school are being discussed.
Colon was a staple figure on the York College Campus. Her fun and spirited personality will be greatly missed.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Occupy Wall Street, Not AYITI!
Editorial
It was well after 4pm when I arrived at Cadman Park in Brooklyn. I had heard through a friend from York College that the Haiti Coalition of NYC would be gathering with others to protest in solidarity with the thousands of people occupying Wall Street. When I arrived I saw that there were about 25 people standing by listening to a man speak and preparing the banners and signs for the march over the Brooklyn Bridge to Liberty Plaza. As the fire in the small contingent and in my own spirit began to rise I was handed a sign that read “Afghanistan: Just Another War For The Rich.” Clearly this march was multifaceted. While the brutal honesty of the sign sunk in I peered around the crowd to observe my fellow demonstrators. Some of the faces were familiar from York College, others were older and I could tell by their partially warm partially stoic expressions that this was but the latest of many marches that they had been apart of. As 5 o’clock crept up and the crowd began assembling to move through the park toward the bridge a spark ignited inside of my chest that led me to the front of the contingent. It would be my self-enforced duty, along with three others, to hold the large black and white banner that read “Stand With Haiti Coalition,” and underneath: “Kowalisyon Pou Kore Ayiti,” with the phone number for the organization. As we began to make our way through the small park we were lead by a small group of four police officers who seemed to be in quite a hurry. Often times throughout the march a man named Ray would nudge us and say “slow down, let them rush…they want to get this over with.” This statement did not strike me as ironic until much later. Here we were walking toward the occupied streets of New York’s financial district, chanting against the UN military occupation of Haiti but being led by members of the NYPD who had recently arrested hundreds of demonstrators not even a week before. What a democracy!
With us chanting non-stop “Occupy Wall Street, Get Out Of Haiti,” and Ray reminding us every so often to slow down our stride, the 45 minute journey began. Although we were a fairly small group compared to the thousands on the other side of the bridge, we had a shared reason for working and a righteous cause (we felt) and for those few hours we were a family united.
Once we got onto the bridge I began to hear and see a blend of feelings from the people that passed us. Many were on bicycles and probably, if it were not for the police leading us, would have thrown innumerable expletives our way because we were making it difficult to get by. However, that same mindset was what we felt we needed to stand up for the many sick and homeless people in Haiti so we pressed on. After the first half hour I had determined that there was a pattern to the many faces of the onlookers. There were those who were confused and looked as though we were speaking some sort of alien dialect with our chant. There were those regular old New Yorkers who were so angry that we made them pause their ferocious strides that they barely even bothered to look at our signs and cut there eyes a soon as we neared. There were the YouTube video aficionados who could not wait to get a still or moving image of the contingent at work (possibly to post on a blog or pitch to a news organization). Then there were the few that just smiled or put their fists in the air as if to say “I’m with you in spirit.” Whenever we saw those guys we smiled warmly. It was sweet to have their company even in passing. Right before we were about to exit the bridge a man in a black Mercedes Benz honked at us a few times. I was not and am still not sure if he even knew why we were marching, but he fulfilled his purpose of getting our attention and cheers.
Once we exited the bridge and walked a block and a half toward Wall Street we were met by an enormous crowd of occupiers from all age ranges and backgrounds. Although our group was happy to see them, happy to see us we did not forget why we had began our journey from Cadman Park earlier that day. Led by a bright-eyed young woman who said she had organized the group to have them meet us when we got off of the bridge we walked around nearby Zuccotti Park. By this time when I turned around there was a sea of people chanting “Occupy Wall Street, Get Out of Haiti.” So many in fact that we now had to do it in groups like Christmas Carolers. By this time Ray himself was also being reminded to slow down so that our newer and much larger contingent could remain as one group.
After we walked around the park the entire crowd stuck together and marched directly toward Wall Street where hundreds more were sitting, kneeling and standing. The looks on their faces told me they may have been doing so on and off since the protest began there three weeks prior. When we arrived it was well after seven o’clock in the evening. Ray spoke on camera in front of the entire group about how monumental the entire movement had become. “We can not fail!” he said with vigor and a knowing tone that I could not pinpoint. How did he know that we all felt as close as kin? That, in many ways, we had suffered as one and now we were as tight as a fist, ready to go forward to bring these financial tyrants down from their money tree canopies? How did he know that although our sign read Haiti Coalition we were bonded by a glue that spanned from Port Au Prince to Liberty Plaza that night? I may never understand.
One thing I do know, however, is that Occupy Wall Street is spreading like wildfire and if that fire is anything like the one that was stirring in us all that evening the Federal Reserve had better have another think coming.
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